Sanguine Summers
by KarmaHope
Summary: Sanguine: (adj) happy, optimistic ; (adj) scarlet, bloody. Three years ago, the government accidentally created Chims. They have wiped out most of Amestris' population, and in the midst of this, three friends do their best to survive. But even in the dark, there are spots of light if you look hard enough. Zombie Apocalypse AU. T for general zombie apocalypse themes (could go up).
1. Sanguine

**Please read this author's note**

_Okay. This is an experiment of mine. I had this idea, and it just wanted to be written. I am not going to worry a big deal about this story – I'm making this up as I go, I don't know where it's going or what I'm doing. I don't have a set plot. General ideas, yes. But this isn't going to be nearly as well-written or intricate as the rewrite of _In Truth, None of it Was Fiction_. I will tell you now. It's not a crack!fic. I'm still taking this story seriously. But chapters are going to be about 2,000 words long and not heavily edited. When I'm done with the rewrite, I may come back and actually make this a large project, depending on how it goes._

_I just really wanted to start posting things again, and you've waited long enough for some new material from me._

This is currently rated **T**, but it could easily go up to **M** due to the usual zombie apocalypse themes … and I don't know where I'm going with couples or if I do that I don't know how far I'm gonna go … so just a heads up.

_**This is**__**heavily AU**__. Most ages are not the same as they are in Fullmetal Alchemist. Ed, Al, and Winry are the correct ages, but Mustang and Hawkeye are 19 and 18. I will try to keep everyone in character, but I don't know how well I'll do._

**Please, if you could give me a response for this chapter at least, that would be wonderful. I want to know the general reception so I know whether to continue or not- if it's not liked, I won't be wasting rewrite time to write this one.**

As for any story I write here, I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything related thereto it._ This shall be the only disclaimer I post._

_(note: 'Chim' is pronounced 'kim')_

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**Sanguine **[_sang_-gwin]**:  
**_**adjective**_

**1. Cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident: **_**a sanguine disposition; sanguine expectations**_**.**_**  
**_2. Reddish; ruddy: _a sanguine complexion_._  
_**3. Bloody; sanguinary**.  
4. Blood-red; red.

_(from Dictionary . com)_

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**Winry Rockbell**

"Oh, _shit_.

"Winry! Behind you!"

It wasn't a second later that the girl in question whipped her hand around, smashing a malformed skull in with what was once a shiny wrench. She grimaced as blood and gunk showered down on her, but she kept her mouth tightly shut to prevent herself from accidentally swallowing any of the foul liquid. Looking up, she saw her childhood friend – who had issued the warning cry – standing at the end of the aisle, still in shock from the panic his friend's encounter had caused.

"Well, don't just stand there!" The girl – Winry – exclaimed, recovering quickly and motioning to her rucksack. "Help me with this!"

He ran towards her and she could hear his footsteps in the heavy combat boots he never took off. He hauled her to her feet, and then they took off running. There were other Chims not far behind them, and depending on how far gone the things were, the things had the potential to catch them easily.

"Where's Al?" Winry asked in between pants, trying to ignore the sounds behind her. It wasn't often that the brothers were separated, and in the world they lived in … one always had to assume the worst.

"He's fine. He got out – he should be by the car. I told him to meet us there."

She didn't continue the conversation. One tried to conserve their energy as much as possible and talking wasted valuable breath. It wasn't long, however, before they burst clear of the doors to the warehouse and into the hot summer sun once more. The light blinded the yellow-haired girl, and it was a second or two before she saw the dark vehicle parked on the side of the road. Another sandy-haired blond sat behind the wheel, watching her and his brother as they dashed toward him.

He revved the engine as soon as she and Ed landed inside the car, and then they were leaving the masses of Chims behind them.

Her name was Winry Rockbell. She was sixteen years old, as of the day before, and this was her life. This had been her life for the past three years.

"What _happened_?" She screeched quietly, not wanting to draw any more Chims to them. Using the car was already a risk, as the engine made an unmistakable rumble in the dead silence that was Outer Central. It didn't make as much noise as it had when they first found it – she had made sure of that – but it was still noise.

They were drawn to noise.

"Win, I –"

"We were doing so well! Quiet in, quick out, just as Roy told us. We shouldn't have had to fight! It was just a grab-and-go …"

"Winry, I don't know!" Edward exclaimed just as quietly, supporting his elbows with his knees. "I wouldn't have screamed if I could have gotten there in time."

"What?" Alphonse asked from where he sat in the front with what he had managed to grab from the warehouse. "Brother, what are you talking about?"

But he knew what the two were talking about. These days, when people talk in vague terms like she and Ed were doing, it always meant one thing: Chims. It was always Chims.

This is where some background information wouldn't go amiss. _Chims_ was short for 'Chimaeras.' Several years ago, government scientists began doing genetic research in the hopes of combining animal genes with human ones to aid in the prevention of various things people suffered. For example, if someone had lost a limb, they would have the starfish genes that allowed for the regrowth of limbs grafted into their own, and they would regrow the missing limb.

It was fantastic research – coming from a family of doctors, Winry could see how it would benefit the population of Amestris. The problem was that the government pushed it too early. For a while, it worked – at least that's what we were told. They tested it out in the desert towns first – camel genetics were used in an attempt to decrease the impact of the droughts they were having. If people didn't need to drink as much, there was that much more water for everyone.

Six months later, they began to hear rumors of conflict in the desert region of Amestris known as Ishval – where the very first doses of the Chimaera Project were given. It wasn't long before the conflict escalated, and the truth came out.

The Chimaera Project did work … for a while. Winry didn't know exactly what changed, but having had a medical education growing up, she could guess. The body rejected the genetic substance, and grew extremely sick. The high fevers and conflicting data to the brain messed the person up – badly – until it was like they were no longer human. Chims didn't think. They couldn't think. And they were always hungry. Their bodies demanded the fuel, their metabolisms haywire as their bodies attempted to fight off the foreign material … and lost.

Chimaerism was extremely contagious. Any part of a Chim that held the foreign genetics had to be kept out of a healthy person's systems, or else they would become messed up as well. The speed of the 'infection,' so to say, was dependent on the amount of genetic material that ended up in the body. If someone got drop of blood in the mouth, it might take a few months. But if someone ended up with Chim blood in an open wound? They had a few hours, at most.

"Don't worry, Al," Winry said from her place in the back seat, "I took care of it." She still held the rusty, bloodstained wrench in her hand. It wasn't the best weapon, as far as fighting Chims went, but it was her weapon. And, she might add, she had gotten pretty good at using it.

When she had first ended up on the road with her childhood friends Edward and Alphonse Elric, she hadn't been much use. She cried. She shrieked. She cowered. She had been a thirteen-year-old girl. Even now, she hated fighting. She hated the feeling of killing things – _people_ – even if they could no longer technically be called that. But she had stopped crying. She fought back when she needed to. The boys needed her, even if they wouldn't admit it, and therefore she would stay with them. She wouldn't hold them back – they had enough to worry about without having to worry about her as well.

"So what did we get?" Edward asked. "I have to have something to show the bastard when we get back," he grumbled.

"I got some medical supplies," Winry offered, looking through her sack. "A couple bandages, some antiseptic … it's not much, but it will help."

"Lamps," the younger Elric said from behind the wheel. "I also grabbed some oil and matches. There was more …"

"Okay, good. I also managed to grab some stuff, so that should be enough."

They rode the rest of the way through Central in silence, listening only to the soft purr of the car's engine. The sound, while really inconvenient, filled Winry with pride. It was the reason why she wasn't entirely useless in this situation they found themselves living in. Originally an automail mechanic in training, the girl lived and breathed machinery. She had saved all their lives multiple times by hotwiring cars for a quick getaway from Chims when they were out on their own.

The three of them pulled into Central Headquarters a couple minutes later. Well, their version of Central HQ – an abandoned apartment complex on the outside of the city that had been slated for demolition before the outbreak. The _real_ Central HQ was the overly large, fortified structure smack dab in the center of the city. That was where the military and the families of the soldiers and officers had holed themselves up when things took an extremely sour turn. Most of the Chims in the city were to be found in the perimeter of the government building – they could sense the number of people, and the sound of sporadic gunfire also drew them in.

Roy had chosen the location for his own Headquarters for that reason – with most of the Chims there, there were never too many around the hotel. Still, there was always a twenty-four hour watch stationed in rooms 122 and 125 – the two rooms that overlooked the entrances.

They were greeted by Maria Ross and Denny Brosch as they exited the car. The seventeen-year-olds both carried weapons, keeping their eyes on their surroundings rather than on the return of Winry and the Elrics. After losing a party right at the front doors a couple months before the three of them had arrived, Roy made sure there were always men or women to cover the backs of the people hauling sacks.

"Good afternoon, Maria, Denny!" Winry exclaimed as brightly as she could as they approached the building.

"Good afternoon, Winry," Maria answered for both of them, but didn't take her eyes off their surroundings. "Hello Edward, Alphonse," she said, acknowledging the brothers as well.

No other words were then exchanged until all five of them were safely inside the building. The lack of incident was rare – the sound of the car usually brought at least one or two Chims back to Headquarters. Once the doors were closed, they were locked once more. The doors were always locked in case of an attack.

"So, Ed, what did you guys bring back for us today?" Denny asked eagerly, trying to peer into one of the sacks without much luck.

"Enough that Roy won't tan our hides again," the younger blond teen said as he readjusted his grip on the bag over his shoulder.

"Brother, he isn't that bad," Alphonse tried telling his brother, but his words fell on deaf ears. The younger boy sighed at his brother's stubbornness.

"Did you have any trouble?" Maria asked, taking Winry's sack from her. Again, the 'trouble' was simply implied. _Chims_. Although the black-haired girl was only a year and a couple months older than the blonde, she had been with Roy's gang for much longer. The younger girl looked up to her as a superior and as a friend.

"Not too much," Winry told her. "I took one out with my wrench, but then we just ran." They'd had worse warehouse runs. Much worse. Seeing Maria's next question, she continued with "No, we didn't lead them back here, obviously. We lost them at the first turn."

Considering Al wasn't even technically old enough to drive at fifteen and a half years, he did it extremely well. Two and a half years of practice hadn't hurt, that was for sure. And with Amestris the way it was now, no one was going to care. No one _did_ care. The more people that could drive, the better.

"You're back," a new voice broke through Edward and Denny's banter. "Sorry to drag you away, but Roy needs you all to report back to the Office."

Winry turned to see Elizabeth Hawkeye standing in the entrance to the hotel's stairwell. There was a clear hierarchy in the ragtag group she found herself a part of, and while Roy Mustang was undeniably the leader, Elizabeth was just as undeniably his second-in-command. Roy made the executive decisions, but the blonde woman in the stairwell was the one who kept Central Headquarters running as smoothly as possible on a day-to-day basis.

She heard Edward grumble something unintelligible, and she had the strangest urge to whack him with her wrench for it. She would be lying if she didn't feel the urge often, but she never carried through. For one, her wrench was rusty and covered in Chimaera blood. If she didn't infect him, he'd end up with lockjaw or something equally as terrible.

It pained her to admit it, but he was one of the best fighters their group had.

"Sorry, Riza. We really were on our way," Al said.

"I know you were," the eighteen-year-old told them, "but Roy is getting impatient."

"Great," Edward drawled, drawing the word out longer than it needed to be. "Come on, Al. Let's get this over with."

"Hey!" Winry exclaimed, running a few steps to catch up with the brothers, "I'm coming with you! I was just as much a part of this run as you were!"

The golden-haired boy looked at her for a second. "Okay," he conceded, "let's go."

_Sheesh_, Winry thought as she followed after the brothers. _What is with him?_ They were in this together… weren't they?

_It's probably nothing_, she told herself. And it was.

x-x-x

_Response for at least this chapter would be fantastic. If it's great, I may end up making the chapters longer, but no promises. This is supposed to be a fun thing that allows me to feel I'm making progress when I'm stuck on the rewrite._

_Anywho._

_Love always from the not quite dead yet  
KarmaHope_


	2. Burnt Umber

_Thank you for your reviews for the first chapter – the experiment continues! I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much, and that it meets your expectations :)_

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**Burnt Umber **[burnt **uhm**-ber]

**1. An earth consisting chiefly of a hydrated oxide of iron and some oxide of manganese, used in its natural state as a brown pigment (raw umber) ****or, after heating, as a reddish-brown pigment (burnt umber)**  
2. The color of such a pigment; dark dusky brown or dark reddish brown.  
**3. Shade; shadow.**

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**Roy Mustang**

Sometimes, nineteen-year-old Roy Mustang wondered just what the hell he was doing.

Sheaves of paper were piled on the desk he'd hauled up to room 150 when he and the original three had first made base in the abandoned hotel. Several held the various work and duty rosters, while others were inventories of supplies and weaponry. Also buried somewhere on his desk were the lists of all the people who currently claimed residence in Headquarters and the reports of every Chim attack anyone encountered.

He stared at the disorganized mess now, wishing more than anything that he could douse every list in gasoline and strike a match to them. He had hated paperwork in school, and the feeling of animosity had not gone away. If it were up to him, he wouldn't do any of it. It shouldn't have been his responsibility. He was only nineteen. Had things not gone the way they had, he should have graduated high school by now. He should already be making his way up the military ranks. As it was, he, his best friend, and his girlfriend at the time had been forced to leave high school in their junior and sophomore years in the midst of a terrible Chim attack on their hometown … and all those plans had gone down the proverbial drain.

But he had adapted. Instead of succumbing to the fate the Chim attack had brought upon their horribly underprepared town, he, along with Elizabeth and Maes, had gotten out. Upon surviving, he had channeled all his ambition elsewhere – into not only surviving, but thriving under the new circumstances. And, if anyone asked him, he was doing a damn good job at it.

In all reality, though, he wouldn't be doing nearly as good a job if Riza wasn't there to keep him on track and on top of the dreaded paperwork.

A knock at the door knocked him out of his thoughts. "Enter," he barked, searching desperately through the mess on his desk for the papers he would need for this debriefing. _Dammit_, he thought,_ where the hell did those go?_

He found a blank sheet of paper just as the younger teens entered, but he still couldn't find the correct supply lists for the life of him. _Shit_. He could feel the judging, hostile gaze from the eldest blond, and he grit his teeth. That boy certainly knew how to grate on his nerves.

Roy relaxed as Elizabeth moved to stand at his side as she usually did. "Top left, middle of the stack," she murmured to him, quiet enough that the teens in front of the desk wouldn't hear. His heart ached at having her so close, but he reached to place she had said. As much as it hurt, she was one of the only ones that kept him sane in this apocalyptic world.

"Thank you," he muttered to his ex-girlfriend.

"Having difficulties?" Edward Elric snarked from where he sat. Alphonse quickly tried to hush him.

"Not at all, Fullmetal. Now, I need your report."

"Don't call me that!" Edward huffed, crossing his arms and sitting back in his seat. "Fine," he said. "Al, Winry?"

One by one, the younger teens each gave their reports, each going through their sacks in order to accomplish the accuracy the records required. If they ever grew low on food or medical supplies, one can or one bottle of antiseptic could mean the difference between life and death. It was a lesson Roy had learned the hard way in the early days of the era.

"Any incidents?" He asked after the inventory was taken, as was standard procedure. He could already tell by the fresh blood spattered across Winry Rockbell that there had been.

At the mention of incidents, Winry reached up in an attempt to clear some of the now-crusted blood off her face. "Yeah," she said. "I got one. I wasn't watching, and it snuck up on me. Ed warned me just before it got me, and I took it out."

"Was that the only one?"

"It was the only one we killed. We ran from the others on the way out."

"How many were there?"

The blonde girl bit her lip, trying to think. "Ten?" she asked hesitantly, looking over at the Elrics for confirmation.

"I counted about fifteen behind you as you ran out," Alphonse responded to her, then turned to Roy. "About fifteen in Warehouse B," he confirmed.

The black-haired teen took a moment to finish writing their report in his neatest handwriting, then handed it over to the three blonds for them to sign. Being the suspicious person he was, it was a measure he took to make sure there weren't any unauthorized reports put in the pile. When it was handed back to him, he signed it was well.

"Thank you," he said, setting the sheets of paper down somewhere on his desk. "You are dismissed."

Edward made some comment or another, but Roy didn't listen. He and the blond teen had gotten off on the wrong foot when they first met, and neither of them had made any ever made any effort to improve their relationship. Oh, well. As long as Ed followed his orders and didn't screw the entirety of Central over, there wasn't a problem.

He groaned, resting his elbows on his desk in order to rub his temples. Dealing with the obstinate sixteen-year-old always left him with somewhat of a headache. It didn't help that the supply runs had been bringing back less and less recently. Having been operating out of the hotel for almost two years now, the warehouses around the area were nearly depleted of their resources. He'd had to send his people further and further to bring back supplies … and they weren't the only ones utilizing the government warehouses.

"I don't know how much longer we can stay here," he said, staring down at the supply lists. He heard shifting behind him, and then the slow approach of heavy boots. It wasn't long before there was a pair of hands massaging his shoulder, and he relaxed into the touch.

"You'll figure something out," Riza said softly, and Roy sighed.

_You_. He hated that word. There was a time, before everything went to Hell, that the _you_ had been _we_. Then the Chims attacked and … well …

"Why are we doing this?" he asked tiredly, leaning back into her hands. It was a question he'd asked many times in the two years they'd been at the hotel. "Why can't we just go back to the way we were?"

There was a short silence. "You know why, Roy."

He did, but it didn't make it hurt any less. Sometimes, he wished more than anything that they could both ignore the rational side of their brains that told them it was a bad idea. But he knew they couldn't. They couldn't be distracted. They couldn't risk their life worrying about the other. They couldn't lose their respect or credibility as the commanders of the little society they'd built from the ground.

"Yeah," he acquiesced quietly.

"The Elrics and Winry have settled in well," Riza remarked after a long silence between them, never ceasing the movement of her hands. "They've been here for six months now."

"I can't call them the newbies anymore," Roy chuckled weakly. "Not after Maes dragged that girl back last week."

"Sciezka? She's sweet," the blonde said. "Still a bit shaken up, as one can imagine, but I think she'll be fine."

"I'll give her another couple days before I put her on the roster," he said, scanning the paper that still lay on top of the desk. "We can't have anyone out in the field that isn't fully with it," he added, almost as an afterthought. A minute later, he was making a sound of protest as Elizabeth removed her hands from his shoulders.

"Sorry, Roy. I have watch duty coming up – you should know, you put me there," she said, but there wasn't an ounce of maliciousness in her tone. The nineteen-year-old smiled sadly to himself at her words.

"You're good there," he said as she made her way around to the front of the desk. "I don't know what we would all do without you," he admitted.

_I don't know what I would do without you_.

"That's easy," his ex said, pausing at the door. "You would survive, because what else can you do?"

And then she was gone.

"Dammit," he cursed, pushing away from his desk. He had the strongest urge just to burn something, and he eyed the line of alcohol-and-rag-filled bottles on the counter of the room's kitchenette. He kept a flint in his pocket at all times, and it would be so easy just to send everything up in flames. Perhaps that would ease some of his frustration at the world.

But he couldn't do that.

Instead, he made his way over to the window that overlooked the back alley below. There were five Chims, wandering randomly – aimlessly – through the shadowy street. Five was a little worrisome, but as long as they didn't look as if they didn't have a directive, he didn't have to take action. Doing so would only waste ammunition and draw more to the spot, causing his actions to be completely counterproductive.

Turning back toward the room, he sighed for the billionth time that day. He needed to find Maes, he decided. The dire situation he knew Central HQ to be in was constantly weighing him down, and his meeting with the Elrics and the subsequent conversation with Riza had done nothing to lift his spirits. He hoped that his best friend could help him, even just the tiniest bit.

He checked the room Maes shared with his girlfriend Gracia on floor three – the couples floor – first. He was greeted by Gracia's five-year-old sister Elicia at the door. Gracia wasn't far behind her sister, and told Roy to try the makeshift library that had been erected in the fifth floor's common area.

"He's been trying to help Sciezka settle in," Gracia told him. "She used to work in a library, apparently, so he's dragged her off to put our books in some sort of order."

There was a hint of jealousy in her voice, but Roy didn't mention it as he thanked his best friend's girlfriend and her sister. He was the only one that knew that Maes was seriously considering proposing to his girlfriend of a year and a half. Gracia really didn't have anything to worry about.

He and Maes had been best friends since primary school, and the other black-haired nineteen-year-old was the one other person that kept him sane as the days passed. True, he had a tendency to go on and on about his girlfriend and Elicia that often drove Roy to distraction, but he was the best friend Roy could think of having. Maes had been there every step of the way, and Roy hoped that he would be there until the end as well.

The young man was indeed in the makeshift library – which was more of just a book collection, honestly – with the newest addition to Central HQ. Upon seeing Roy, he left the small brown-haired girl to her work to join his best friend.

"It's amazing, Roy! She remembers everything she's ever read! All of it!"

They both turned to watch the girl – who seemed to be about fourteen – sort through the piles of books, getting them into some order or another. It was then that Roy had an idea.

"Do you think she'd remember the records just as easily?" he asked.

Maes looked at him. "What do you … _oh_," he said in realization. "Sciezka!"

The girl turned away from her work and scurried over to where the two young men were standing. "Yeah, Maes? Oh, hi Roy!"

"Sciezka, I think Roy has another job that you'd be really good at."

Roy couldn't believe his luck. Half an hour later, his desk was organized and all his papers had been backed up in Sciezka's head. If he had a question about how many of something they had in inventory, or he need to know who was scheduled for what on the roster, he just had to ask her.

At least _something_ had gone his way.

x-x-x

_Again, response is welcome. You won't be getting another chapter as quickly, however … sorry._

_Love from  
KarmaHope_


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